Sunday, April 13, 2008

Spring is Coming


The season of the family farm is HERE.

The Farmer's Community Market at Brookside opened again yesterday. Not much to choose from - a little organic lettuce. The Amish farmer was selling lamb, I saw his two kids sneak over to Bella Napoli for hot chocolate. The important part is the little white tents are back, which means if I get up early before the kid's soccer games that fresh, non-chemical laden food can be had at a reasonable price. Shopping at the farmer's market, inviting friends over for dinner on Saturdays, cooking local food, sitting on the deck - I'm ready for Spring!

One of my favorite family farms is Campo Lindo. They stick a little note into every carton of eggs. Carol (I'll not insult her by calling her the farmer's wife) captures my feelings perfectly:

Good day from Campo Lindo Farms. I may be exaggerating just a bit, but I swear that I saw a hen with a big grin on her beak when it got to 70 F last week. It has been a long, hard winter for us here at the farm and the hens are not the only ones looking forward to a change. The cows, sheep and horses are worn out from standings on hard, frozen ground and I'm sure they are looking forward to green pastures. The peek at warm temperatures was a real emotional booster and you can bet we'll all be grinning when winter is behind us for another year. Thanks for buying our local eggs! Carol, Jay, Brandon & Isabel
.


I'm grinning, too.

3 comments:

Dan said...

Great post, Steve.

Do you think the owners of the CAFOs that Koster supports ever write anything as nice as the people at Campo Lindo?

Koster wants to rob local people of the right to keep corporate farms, with their inhumane, smelly, polluting, ground-water fouling CAFOs, away from places like Campo Lindo.

Anonymous said...

This is a black and white issue. Republicans like Koster are funded by Farm Bureau Insurance Company and want corporate pig farms next to rivers that Missourians like to canoe. Democrats like Jeff Harris are funded by environmentalists and support local counties deciding where to place the monster sewage lagoons.

John Burnett said...

My wife, Ingrid, and I met Carol and Jay at a "Farmers Table" at the Bluebird Bistro a while back. They are truly delightful people who are living their dream of producing locally grown food in a responsible way. After meeting them and talking with them about their Campo Lindo chicken brand I am a true believer in locally grown which the Bluebird is known for.